Monument Valley and Beyond ~ An Epic Weekend
Deep in the heart of the Navajo Nation we find ourselves in the land of John Ford, and The Searchers….we literally perch the KPod on the rim of the ‘primitive camping” area overlooking the fantastic buttes which make Monument Valley famous. The Navajo are highly protective of this Tribal National Monument and there is only one trail, (The Wildcat Trail), you can access without a guide. It’s a glorious 3.3 mile loop around the Mitten Butte. The red sands almost stain your shoes as you walk along the arroyo which curves around this epic rock precipice. Later we take a drive into the park, its stunning, but somehow I am left a tad disappointed. It just doesn’t seem as big and vast as I’d imagined…..and the ‘no tresspassing’ signs are a bit disenchanting. Granted the Navajo live there so of course they don’t want random tourists wandering aimlessly down their ‘roadways’ but you get a little put off that there are certain areas of the park which you can only access by guided hike or jeep tour which comes with a hefty price of 60 dollars per person. Of course I was tempted to take a horseback ride with grandious images in my mind of riding with the Native Americans, hair flying in the wind in this enchanting land of red sand and stone…..then I saw the ride leaving the stables..the guide a pot bellied middle aged man astride a small scrawny horse with your typical dudes bobbing as the bored horses walk along plugged in without enthusiasm…..oh well…..so we hitch up the KPod and head up to the Valley of the Gods. First we leave the KPod at this amazing state park, Goosenecks. Who knew? This hidden gem of a Utah State Park would be so absolutely breath taking? We unhitch the KPod directly on the rim of a canyon that the San Juan River has deeply carved into the shape of two horseshoe bends side by side. Amused at our discovery we head out to The Valley of the Gods. Now we are talking……this place is endlessly VAST. An impressive 20 mile loop takes us through surreal red sand stone rock formations. Open vistas that won’t quit, that seductive red sand, colorful arroyos, cottonwood trees and did I say surreal rock formations? One particular butte looked remarkably like a Bedouin rider complete with turban with a spirited horse before him. All this land, all this magnificent SPACE is OURS!!!~ Yours, mine….its the beloved BLM, the Bureau of Land Management! Where you can camp, hike anywhere you can, let your doggo run free….take your horses, graze your cattle go for it! Its our land!! The freedom we felt was absolutely liberating. So we hiked along a slippery slate covered arroyo. And with the sun setting upon our backs the views just simply took our breath. That night back at the KPod we woke up to the stunning cavernous gorge which was right before us. We descended the precarious sharp rock face as far down as we could get within reason, with spectators gazing down at us from the ridge, their mouths agape at our insanity. The San Juan River just humming at us from down below our feet, as it eventually flows into the Colorado River to the Grand Canyon. What we found were awesome perches which gave me such a sense of jealousy as I watched the ravens soar beneath us. But back to reality I realized it was time for us to once again hit the road so we scrambled back up to the KPod and traveled through the Navajo Nation to the Canyon de Chelley. Here we had the opportunity to gaze down upon the Mummy Caves, extraordinary dwellings built into the canyon walls…..with heavy hearts we continued our journey toward Gallup, NM. where we could strategically place ourselves back into cell service so that Ken could begin the work week ahead. Even so, we had devoured some amazing places which have indeed penetrated into the deep recesses of our memory.